IRLF 


SD 


BULLETIN 


OF    7HE 


BUSSEY  INSTITUTION 

[JAMAICA    PLAIN    (BOSTON)] 


VOL.  II  — PAKT  VIII 


1899 


/v: 


CAMBRIDGE 

b£  tbe  TTlntversits? 

1899 


GIFT   ©F 


HARVARD   UNIVERSITY 


BULLETIN 


OF    THE 


BUSSEY  INSTITUTION 


[JAMAICA    PLAIN    (BOSTON)] 


VOL.  II  — PART  VIII 


1899 


CAMBRIDGE 

£  tbe 

1899 


Gift 


'...."•.I..----...-:".  ••••••••• 

BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION.  429 

No.  38.  —  The  Basket  Willow.  By  EDMUND  HERSEY,  In- 
structor in  Agriculture  at  the  Bussey  Institution  and 
Superintendent  of  the  Bussey  Farm. 

Nearly  half  a  century  ago,  on  learning  that  a  party  in  New  York 
had  imported  from  Europe  cuttings  of  the  European  Basket  Willow, 
I  ordered  several  hundred  cuttings  for  trial ;  for  I  had  long  been 
convinced  that  the  introduction  of  any  new  tree,  shrub,  or  vine  that 
can  be  cultivated  with  profit,  tends  to  improve  the  condition  of  the 
farmer,  and  to  add  wealth  to  the  country. 

The  cuttings  came  to  hand  in  good  order  on  the  20th  of  April, 
1853,  and  were  set  out  in  Hingham,  Mass.,  in  a  soil  of  sandy  loam, 
which  had  been  prepared  for  a  crop  of  potatoes.  The  slips  were 
12  inches  long,  and  were  set  in  rows  12  inches  apart,  and  also  12 
inches  apart  in  the  rows.  Each  cutting  was  set  9  inches  below 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  leaving  3  inches  above,  and  on  an  angle 
of  45  degrees  from  the  perpendicular ;  for  many  years  of  experience 
have  proved  to  my  own  satisfaction  that  cuttings  are  more  likely  to 
live  when  set  in  this  way  than  if  set  in  a  perpendicular  position. 
Of  the  thousand  cuttings  set,  every  one  lived  and  made  a  growth 
of  from  3  to  6  feet  the  first  season.  No  more  time  was  spent  in 
cultivation  than  would  be  required  to  cultivate  a  crop  of  potatoes. 
Since  the  crop  of  the  first  year  was  wanted  for  cuttings  to  set  the 
following  spring,  it  was  gathered  in  November.  Each  shoot  was 
cut  into  slips  12  inches  in  length,  and  they  were  all  buried  in  a 
sand  bank  until  the  following  April. 

After  the  crop  was  harvested,  the  stumps  from  which  it  was  cut 
were  unprotected  during  the  winter  ;  they  were  found  to  be  in  good 
order  in  the  following  spring.  During  the  summer  the  crop  was 
neither  fertilized  nor  cultivated,  but  was  permitted  to  grow  in  its 
own  free,  natural,  yet  graceful  way.  When  harvested  in  Novem- 
ber, a  measured  rod  of  land  produced  112  pounds  of  osiers,  or 
within  80  pounds  of  nine  tons  to  the  acre ;  most  of  the  osiers 
measured  5  to  6  feet  in  length,  and  some  of  them  were  within  a 
few  inches  of  9  feet.  A  few  of  the  osiers  were  sent  to  the  editor 
of  the  New  England  Farmer,  who  in  some  remarks  printed  in 
1855,  vol.  7,  page  85,  concludes  as  follows  :  "  We  have  specimens 
of  his  growth  of  willows  now  before  us,  very  smooth  and  even,  and 
about  9  feet  in  length." 


544135 


430  BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION. 

Salix  viminalis  and  Salix  purpurea  were  the  two  varieties 
ordered  from  New  York,  but  on  investigation  it  was  found  that 
the  importer,  or  his  agent,  had  made  a  mistake,  and  had  marked 
the  purpurea,  viminalis,  and  the  viminalis,  purpurea.  I  am 
ignorant  whether  this  mistake  was  confined  to  the  cuttings  sent 
to  me,  or  whether  it  embraced  all  that  were  imported  at  that  time. 
After  several  years  trial  with  these  two  varieties,  grown  side  by 
side,  the  variety  bought  for  viminalis  but  proved  to  be  purpurea, 
produced  osiers  so  much  superior  to  the  other  variety  that  all  of 
the  latter  were  destroyed,  and  only  the  purpurea  plants  were 
permitted  to  grow. 

On  my  land  the  viminalis  does  not  make  so  rapid  growth  as  the 
purpurea,  and  it  sends  out  more  lateral  branches  ;  in  fact  with  me 
it  has  proved  a  failure  for  both  basket  work  and  hoop-poles  ;  but 
the  purpurea  has  proved  a  great  success,  especially  when  grown 
on  a  soil  of  warm,  sandy  loam.  For  more  than  twenty  years  a 
small  area  was  kept  covered  with  this  variety,  which  without  any 
cultivation  or  fertilizer,  continued  to  produce  every  year  good 
crops  of  osiers  from  5  to  7  feet  in  length,  which  were  sold  to  a 
party  who  cut  and  peeled  them,  and  disposed  of  them  to  a  party 
in  Boston  at  a  price  of  from  8  to  10  cents  per  pound ;  a  higher 
price  than  the  imported  osiers  sold  for  in  Boston  at  that  time. 
The  party  who  bought  the  crop,  paid  for  it  what  he  thought  it  was 
worth,  which  was  always  more  than  could  have  been  realized  from 
any  ordinary  crop  grown  on  the  same  area  of  land. 

At  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  man  who  bought  osiers  of  me, 
other  business  demanded  my  attention,  and  as  the  land  was 
wanted  for  other  purposes,  most  of  my  plantation  of  willows  was 
destroyed,  but  enough  were  left  to  continue  the  experiment,  to 
show  that  this  variety  of  willows  can  be  grown  for  many  years  on 
high,  sandy  land  without  cultivation  or  the  application  of  fertil- 
izers, and  yet  produce  good  osiers.  Forty-three  years  have  passed 
since  I  began  to  grow  these  willows  on  the  high  land,  and  the  yearly 
crops  have  never  shown  any  signs  of  weakness. 

Forty-five  years  ago,  Mr.  Lincoln  Jacobs  of  Hingham,  Mass., 
planted  about  one  half  of  an  acre  of  land  with  Salix  purpurea ; 
the  soil  selected  was  a  rich,  moist  loam  ;  a  good  soil  for  potatoes 
or  grass  ;  but  it  proved  a  very  poor  soil  for  the  variety  of  willows 
he  planted ;  many  of  the  osiers  were  less  than  4  feet  in  length, 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION.  431 

and  few  of  them  more  than  5  feet.  Mr.  Jacobs,  failing  to  get 
good  osiers  on  rich,  low  land,  planted  a  few  on  high,  dry  land, 
near  his  residence;  and  from  this  field  he  got  osiers  from  5  to 
7  and  even  8  feet  in  length  every  year,  without  applying  any 
fertilizer  or  expending  any  labor  in  cultivation ;  this  he  con- 
tinued to  do  as  long  as  he  lived,  which  was  probably  ten  years 
after  the  cuttings  were  planted  out.  Other  parties  planted  the 
purpurea  for  hedges  on  high,  dry  land,  but  the  growth  was  so 
rapid  that  it  proved  not  suitable  for  hedges. 

The  question  has  arisen  in  my  mind,  why  do  most,  if  not  all 
American  writers  who  are  considered  good  authority  on  the  subject, 
recommend  the  viminalis  and  condemn  the  purpurea  ?  and  why  is 
it  that  after  forty-six  years  of  trial,  I  find  the  purpurea  an  excel- 
lent variety  for  osiers,  and  the  viminalis  not  worth  growing?  Can 
it  be  that  the  soil  of  Hingham  differs  so  much  from  that  of  any 
other  part  of  the  United  States,  that  another  variety  of  willows  is 
required  elsewhere  to  make  a  success  in  the  business?  Can  it 
be  that  so  many  writers  have  made  a  mistake  in  the  variety  of 
willows?  May  it  not  be  that  the  persistent  efforts  which  have 
been  made  to  grow  the  purpurea  on  wet  land  have  led  many  to 
believe  that  this  variety  is  of  but  little  value,  when  if  they  had 
made  the  same  efforts  to  grow  it  on  dry  land,  they  would  have 
found  it  to  be  a  variety  of  great  value  for  osiers  ;  if  so,  then  it  is 
time  that  this  fact  should  be  made  known  to  the  public ;  that 
those  who  are  about  to  plant  willows  on  high  land  may  not  make 
the  mistake  of  planting  varieties  that  are  sure  to  make  the  business 
a  failure. 

So  many  associate  the  willow  with  running  water,  or  low  land, 
that  it  is  very  difficult  to  convince  the  public  that  there  are  va- 
rieties which  grow  best  on  sandy  plains ;  yet  years  of  close 
observation  have  proved  to  me  that  Salix  purpurea  not  only 
grows  best  on  dry  land,  but  grows  best  in  hot,  dry  weather'.  By 
actual  measurement  it  has  been  found  that  this  variety  in  hot,  dry 
weather  with  bright  sunshine,  will  grow  in  a  dry  soil  from  3  to 
4  inches  in  twenty-four  hours  ;  while  in  rainy  weather  the  growth 
does  not  exceed  one  half  of  an  inch,  though  it  be  within  a  few  days 
of  the  period  when  the  growth  was  from  3  to  4  inches. 

For  more  than  forty  years  I  have  had  a  row  of  the  purpurea 
willow  growing  on  top  of  quite  a  high  hill ;  about  ten  years  ago, 


432  BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION. 

a  road  was  built  on  the  south  side  of  it,  digging  down  some  4  or  5 
feet,  and  quite  a  steep  slope  was  made,  the  top  of  which  was 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  willows ;  yet  many  of  the  osiers  in  this 
dry  position  have  continued  to  grow  as  well  as  ever;  during 
the  past  forty  years,  without  cultivation,  or  the  application  of 
fertilizers,  a  yearly  growth  has  been  made  of  from  5  to  7  feet. 

1  regret  to  say  that  road  improvements  require  the  removal  of 
this  row  of  trees  the  present  year.    Having  kept  them  so  long  as 
a  proof  of  their  adaptability  to  dry  land,  I  only  submit  to  their 
destruction  because  it  is  important  for  me  to  do  so.*     During  the 
forty- six  years  that  the  Salix  purpurea  has  been  grown  by  me,  no 
injury  has  been  caused  to  the  roots  or  leaves  by  insects  or  fungi 
and  it  has  proved  to  be  one  of  the  surest  crops  the  farmer  can 
grow,  and  also  a  profitable  crop  where  the  osiers  are  in  demand 
for  the  manufacture  of  baskets  and  baby  carriages,  or  for  barrel 
hoops,  nail  keg  hoops,  or  binders  for  boxes. 

That  the  demand  for  osiers  will  rapidly  increase,  there  can  be 
but  little  doubt ;  and  that  most  of  them  will  be  grown  in  this 
country  is  equally  certain .  From  statistics  published  by  the  U.  S. 
Government  we  learn  that  willow  is  quite  rapidly  taking  the  place 
of  rattan.  In  the  year  1880  the  amount  of  willow  manufactures 
in  the  United  States  was  $1,992,851  ;  in  1890  it  was  $3,633,592, 
or  a  gain  of  about  82  per  cent.  In  the  year  1880  the  amount  of 
rattan  manufactures  was  $526,777  ;  in  1890  it  was  $682,977,  or  a 
gain  of  less  than  30  per  cent.  The  amount  of  willow  imported 
was  as  follows  : 

1858 $55,141  1880 $21,833 

1865 28,028  1885 28,665 

1870 50,115  1890 27^646 

1875 34,4^0 

*  Since  writing  the  above,  the  road  improvement  has  been  made,  and  the 
willows  removed.  While  digging  the  earth  from  under  the  willows,  it  was 
found  that  a  tap-root  the  shape  of  a  parsnip  had  grown  from  each  of  the 
cuttings  set  to  establish  the  row  of  willows ;  these  roots  had  no  fibrous  roots 
below  the  soil,  and  extended  to  an  unknown  depth ;  one  was  cut  off  6  feet 
below  the  soil,  and  found  to  measure  4i  inches  in  diameter  at  the  top,  and 

2  inches  at  the  lower  end.     The  soil  under  the  willows  was  very  much  darker 
in  color  than  that  on  either  side,  and  from  3  to  4  inches  deeper;  it  being  12 
inches  deep.     Below  the  soil  there  was  sand  with  loam  enough  mixed  with  it 
to  slightly  change  the  color,  but  not  enough  to  hold  the  particles  of  sand  to- 
gether when  pressed  in  the  hand ;  under  this  sand  was  found  a  white  sand  free 
from  stones,  and  fine  enough  to  make  good  mortar ;  the  depth  of  this  sand  is 
unknown,  but  pipes  have  been  driven  down  20  feet  without  reaching  the  bottom. 
Water  would  probably  be  reached  at  about  25  feet  below  the  surface. 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION.  433 

In  selecting  a  soil  best  adapted  to  the  growth  of  the  Salix 
purpurea,  a  warm,  sandy  loam  should  be  sought  for ;  a  soil  that 
will  produce  good  crops  of  Indian  corn,  is  better  adapted  to  the 
growth  of  this  variety  than  a  soil  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of 
grass.  To  make  the  business  of  growing  osiers  profitable,  a  home 
market  is  needed ;  therefore  if  the  business  is  to  increase  rapidly 
in  this  country,  the  manufacturers  who  use  osiers  should  keep  in 
close  touch  with  the  farmers,  increasing  their  business  as  rapidly  as 
the  demand  for  their  manufactures  will  warrant,  and  the  farmers 
can  be  induced  to  furnish  the  osiers. 

To  prepare  land  that  has  not  been  under  cultivation  during  the 
previous  year,  for  a  plantation  of  willows,  a  crop  of  Indian  corn 
may  be  planted  and  several  cords  more  of  manure  applied  to  each 
acre  than  the  crop  of  corn  will  be  likely  to  consume  ;  the  cultivation 
of  the  land  should  be  thorough  to  prevent  any  weed  seeds  from 
ripening.  As  early  in  the  following  spring  as  the  land  will  work 
readily,  it  should  be  ploughed  about  8  inches  deep.  The  slips 
for  planting  should  have  been  cut  from  the  stumps  the  previous 
autumn,  a  few  weeks  before  winter  sets  in,  and  cut  in  lengths  of 
about  12  inches,  tied  up  in  small  bundles,  and  buried  in  a  sand- 
bank, a  few  inches  deep ;  if  on  the  south  side  of  the  bank,  it  will 
be  found  when  the  slips  are  taken  out  in  the  spring,  that  the  new 
roots  have  already  begun  to  grow.  A  few  days  after  the  land  is 
ploughed,  the  cuttings  should  be  planted ;  if  the  soil  be  fine  and 
in  good  condition,  the  cuttings  may  be  easily  pushed  into  the 
ground  about  9  inches,  leaving  3  inches  above  the  surface ;  it  is 
best  to  set  the  slips  on  an  angle  of  45  degrees  from  the  perpen- 
dicular ;  if  set  upright  the  roots  at  the  lower  end  will  be  too  deep  to 
grow  as  rapidly  as  they  would  if  nearer  the  surface,  and  the  sap 
will  not  rise  to  the  leaves  as  readily  as  on  an  angle.  The  cuttings 
should  be  set  in  rows  2  feet  apart  each  way.  In  case  the  land  be 
very  weedy  the  first  year,  the  weeds  should  be  destroyed,  but  in 
doing  so  great  care  should  be  taken  not  to  start  any  of  the  cut- 
tings ;  for  to  disturb  them  before  the  roots  get  well  started  checks 
their  growth  if  it  does  not  kill  them.  Experience  has  proved  that 
cultivation  is  unnecessary  on  high  land  after  the  first  year. 

Unless  the  soil  be  very  rich  the  crop  should  not  be  cut  until  it 
has  made  two  years'  growth,  when  if  cut  in  the  autumn  and  kept 
in  a  sandbank  over  winter  it  will  make  excellent  slips  for  new 


434  BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION. 

plantations,  but  of  little  value  for  osiers.  When  the  crop  is  per- 
mitted to  grow  two  years  before  cutting,  the  roots  make  a  much 
more  vigorous  growth  than  they  would  have  made  if  the  shoots  had 
been  all  cut  off  the  first  year.  As  the  quality  of  the  osiers  depends 
on  the  size  and  vigor  of  the  roots  upon  which  they  grow,  it  is  not 
wise  to  adopt  any  practice  which  will  check  their  growth  or  make 
them  less  vigorous.  The  roots  being  well  established,  the  crop  of 
the  third  year,  will  be  valuable  for  osiers  ;  the  shoots  should  be  cut 
the  following  year  a  short  time  before  the  sap  begins  to  flow,  and 
if  they  are  to  be  peeled  without  steaming,  they  should  be  tied  in 
bundles  of  a  convenient  size  with  the  osiers  very  even  at  the  large 
end,  that  they  may  be  set  upright  in  water,  about  3  inches  in 
depth,  where  they  should  remain  until  the  bark  is  in  a  condition 
to  slip  easily  from  the  wood,  when  the  work  of  stripping  the  bark 
from  the  osiers  should  begin  and  be  continued,  without  inter- 
ruption, until  the  work  is  completed.  If  the  osiers  are  to  be 
steamed  to  loosen  the  bark,  the  work  may  commence  as  soon  as 
the  osiers  are  cut,  and  when  the  bark  has  been  stripped  off  the 
steamed  osiers,  they  should  be  dropped  immediately  into  a  long 
trough  of  cold  water,  where  they  should  lay  a  few  hours,  and  then 
be  taken  out  and  dried  in  a  storehouse  where  there  is  a  good  cir- 
culation of  air.  Dropping  the  osiers  in  cold  water  makes  them 
dry  a  lighter  color  whether  they  are  steamed,  or  peeled  without 
steaming.  When  the  osiers  are  well  dried,  they  should  be  bound 
in  bundles  of  from  30  to  50  pounds  each,  according  to  size  and 
length,  and  sent  to  market. 

When  willows  are  to  be  grown  to  be  used  for  the  hoops  of  nail 
kegs  or  for  the  binders  of  boxes,  shoots  of  nearly  uniform  thick- 
ness can  be  obtained  by  the  device  of  stripping  off,  in  the  spring, 
all  the  lower  leaves  of  those  growing  shoots  which  have  already 
made  one  year's  growth.  In  the  spring,  at  the  time  when  the 
leaves  are  about  half  an  inch  long,  the  top  of  the  shoot  is  grasped 
in  one  hand,  and  all  the  leaves  except  a  few  at  the  top,  are  stripped 
off  with  the  thumb  and  finger  of  the  other  hand.  After  a  little 
practice  this  stripping  can  be  done  very  rapidly ;  it  prevents  the 
growth  of  lateral  branches,  and  secures  the  production  of  hoop- 
poles  or  box-binders  which  are  entirely  free  from  knots,  and 
almost  as  large  at  the  upper  end  as  at  the  lower.  A  good  two 


BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION.  435 

years'  growth  is  large  enough  for  keg  hoops  or  box  binders ;  but 
for  barrel  hoops,  three  years'  growth  is  not  too  large. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  a  large  and  profitable  industry  could  be 
built  up  in  this  country  by  growing  osiers  and  manufacturing  them 
into  a  great  variety  of  useful  articles,  if  the  farmers  could  be 
induced  to  get  the  best  varieties  of  willows  for  osiers,  and  to  plant 
them  on  a  soil  best  adapted  to  their  growth.  But  because  of  the 
"information"  which  has  thus  far  reached  the  farmers,  it  would 
probably  happen  in  case  osier  cuttings  were  given  to  100  of  them, 
that  99  would  set  out  their  cuttings  on  a  bank  beside  a  stream,  or 
on  some  low  land  of  but  little  value  for  any  purpose.  There  is 
in  this  country  a  belief  so  firmly  established  in  the  minds  of  all 
classes,  that  the  home  of  the  willow  is  by  the  side  of  running  water 
that  it  will  probably  not  be  easy  to  convince  any  considerable 
number  of  persons  that  there  is  any  variety  of  willow  producing 
excellent  osiers,  which  grows  better  on  sandy  loam  than  on  moist, 
loamy  soil.  To  establish  this  truth,  and  to  do  away  with  the 
erroneous  prejudice  now  current,  both  precept  and  example  will 
be  needed  in  full  measure. 

I  cannot  but  hope  that  my  own  success  during  forty-six  years  of 
experiment  and  observation,  may  invite  others  to  make  such  inves- 
tigations as  may  be  necessary  to  ascertain  what  soil  is  best  adapted 
to  the  growth  of  each  variety  of  willow  used  for  manufacturing 
purposes. 

The  question  will  arise  naturally,  where  did  my  willows  obtain 
food  enough  to  produce  vigorous  growth  each  year  for  forty  years 
in  succession,  while  during  the  same  time  it  was  evident  to  the  eye 
that  the  character  of  the  soil  in  which  the  fibrous  roots  grew  was 
improved  ? 

It  is  quite  probable  that  the  large  tap  roots  of  the  willows  reached 
down  to  an  abundant  supply  of  water  containing  the  mineral  ele- 
ments required  for  plant  growth,  in  sufficient  quantities  to  furnish 
a  full  supply  for  the  rapid  growth  of  the  osiers.  A  portion  of  the 
mineral  elements  may  have  been  obtained  by  the  disintegration  of 
the  soil,  hastened  by  the  action  of  acids  given  off  from  the  willow 
roots.  The  deepening  and  enrichment  of  the  soil  was  evidently 
caused  by  the  yearly  dropping  of  the  leaves  which  were  kept  from 
being  scattered  over  a  wide  space  by  the  numerous  stumps  from 
which  the  osiers  were  yearly  cut. 


436  BULLETIN    OF    THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION. 

I  am  led  to  the  above  conclusions  by  the  fact  that  some  years 
ago,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  some  willow  cuttings  over  winter, 
I  buried  them  in  a  bare  sand  bank  from  which  all  the  original  soil 
had  been  removed.  By  accident,  a  few  of  the  cuttings  were  left 
in  the  sand  where  they  sprouted  and  grew  rapidly.  After  the 
second  year,  they  grew  from  five  to  seven  feet  each  year  for  more 
than  twenty  years  without  the  application  of  any  fertilizer,  and 
without  cultivation.  During  the  past  ten  years,  these  willows 
have  been  permitted  to  grow  without  being  cut ;  on  examination  I 
find  that  the  sand  beneath  them  is  covered  with  a  good  soil. 

On  submitting  some  of  the  fibrous  willow  roots  to  my  colleague, 
Mr.  E.  W.  Morse,  for  microscopic  examination,  he  finds  that  while 
there  are  root-hairs  upon  some  of  the  roots  others  are  devoid  of 
hairs  and  that  the  hairless  roots  are  enveloped  by  fungus  threads. 
It  is  to  be  inferred,  therefore,  from  what  is  known  of  the  power 
of  fungi  on  the  roots  of  forest  trees  to  take  nitrogen  from  the  air, 
that  a  part  at  least  of  the  nitrogenous  food  of  my  willows  has 
been  derived  from  the  air  —  a  conclusion  which  is  consistent  with 
the  rapidity  of  their  growth  upon  land  which  was  naturally  by  no 
means  fertile. 


HARVARD   UNIVERSITY. 


THE    BUSSEY    INSTITUTION. 

A.  School  of  Agriculture  and  Horticulture. 

The  School  of  Agriculture  and  Horticulture,  established  in  execution 
of  the  trusts  created  by  the  will  of  Benjamin  Bussey,  gives  systematic 
instruction  in  Agriculture,  Useful  and  Ornamental  Gardening,  and 
Stock-raising.  The  Bussey  Institution  is  situated  near  the  village  of 
Jamaica  Plain,  about  five  miles  southwest  of  the  centre  of  Boston,  and 
close  to  the  Forest  Hills  station  on  the  Boston  and  Providence  Railroad. 
Students  may  live  either  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  School,  or  in 
Boston  proper,  or  in  some  one  of  the  neighboring  villages  upon  the 
line  of  the  railroad. 

THIS  SCHOOL  IS  INTENDED  FOR  THE  FOLLOWING  CLASSES 
OF  PERSONS. 

1.  Young  men  who  intend  to  become  practical  farmers,  gardeners, 
florists,  or  landscape  gardeners. 

2.  Young  men  who  will  naturally  be  called  upon  to  manage  large 
estates ;   or  who  wish  to  qualify  themselves  to  be  overseers  or  super- 
intendents of  farms,  country  seats,  or  public  institutions. 

3.  Persons  who  wish  to  study  some  special  branch  of  agriculture,  or 
horticulture,  or  to  attend  the  school  as  a  means  of  scientific  training. 

Instruction  is  given  by  lectures  and  recitations,  and  by  practical  exer- 
cises in  laboratories,  the  student  being  taught  to  observe  phenomena, 
to  make  experiments,  and  to  study  specimens  for  himself.  The  aim  of 
the  teachers  is  to  give  the  student  a  just  idea  of  the  principles  upon 
which  the  arts  of  agriculture  and  horticulture  depend  ;  to  teach  him  how 
to  make  intelligent  use  of  the  scientific  literature  which  relates  to  these 
arts ;  and  to  enable  him  to  put  a  proper  estimate  upon  those  kinds  of 
evidence  which  are  obtained  by  experiments  and  by  the  observation 
of  natural  objects.  Students  interested  in  tree-culture  have  the  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  the  raising  of  trees  in  great  variety  for  the  Arnold 
Arboretum. 

Candidates  for  admission  must  be  at  least  seventeen  years  of  age,  and 
must  present  testimonials  of  good  moral  character.  No  formal  exam- 
ination will  be  required  of  them,  but  each  student  must  satisfy  the 
instructors  of  his  ability  and  of  his  intention  to  profit  by  the  teachings 
of  the  School.  Students  who  are  not  candidates  for  a  degree  may,  upon 
producing  certificates  of  good  moral  character,  join  the  School  at  any 
time,  without  examination,  to  pursue  any  special  course  or  courses  of 
instruction  which  they  are  qualified  to  pursue  with  advantage. 

For  further  information,  apply  to 

Prof.  P.  H.  STOKER,  Dean, 

Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 


Photomount 
Pamphlet 

Binder 
Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 
Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

PAT.  JAN  21.  1908 


544133 


LX  t 


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